It’s my hope that asking Riel, your mate, to give you the time to spread your wings as you wish will at least give you the space to learn to handle being a shifter’s mate. Yes, he is your mate, Sam. He told me the moment he saw you the first time and I didn’t have it in me to let you go so soon. Your mother loved Korr, and I know you and Riel belong together. You may not shift, but the link is there. There’s a bond between you that no one can take away. Even I can see it. You can trust him. He’ll love and care for you when I’m gone.
Love,
Ginny
Riel glanced at Sam. She was still staring blankly at the letter. He knew she was suffering, and his wolf pushed him to do something to make her feel better. But what? He couldn’t change the past.
His gut clenched. The grief and loneliness in her eyes was enough to make a knot form in his throat. She put all the letters and photos back in the trunk in complete quiet. Then she lifted the trunk and put it on the floor. She removed her robe, sliding out of the silky material in drawn-out moves. He gulped. She crawled over to him, completely naked.
His cock hardened instantly, and he felt like a sick bastard. “Sam?”
Here she was going through this sad discovery of her past, and he was ready to lay her on the bed and worship every inch of her luscious body.
She sat on the back of her feet and placed a finger over his lips. “Shhh.” Her soft sad smile was his undoing. “Make love to me, Ry. I don’t want to feel alone anymore.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “You’ll never be alone again, sweetheart. I’m always going to be by your side.”
“I know. But I have a lot to think about, and I can’t do it with the heat I feel inside urging me at every moment to have you filling my body. You have to help me. I don’t want to leave this room until my body no longer screams for you to take me every second of the day, OK?” She moved the finger over his mouth and trailed it over his lips. “I need you to make this burning stop.”
What the fuck could he say to that? If his mate wanted him to make love to her then he would. “Sam—”
“I’m all yours, Ry.”
And that’s exactly what he did for the following four days. He ignored all but the most important calls and explained to others his need to be home with her. Once the word heat came up, everyone understood and backed off. Food, sex, and bonding with his mate were all that mattered to him. When they finally emerged from his home, he couldn’t stop the satisfied grin covering his face. Their mate bond had strengthened into a tangible link that he’d never felt for anyone else.
He took in Sam’s sexy body as she floated on the pool, naked. He was glad he’d built a high fence over the front yard. The only way to see into his backyard had been through Sam’s backyard, but now that the house had burned he’d had the side leading to his closed off. Privacy was important to him.
The ringing of his phone made him glance down at the name on the screen. Kane. He sat up on the lounger and pressed the button to answer the call.
“What’s going on?” He knew Kane was investigating the family, so if he was calling, he probably had new information for him.
“Sorry to interrupt your time with Sam, Ry. We’ve found some interesting information on Sam’s Aunt Cecilia. She’s got a young man living with her, but he’s sleeping with another woman. Since you were the one that got the scent of the man off Sam, I need you to come check him out.”
Ry narrowed his eyes. “What about the other aunts?”
“Maggie and Luisa. Yeah, we’re still doing background on them. But there is a lot of shit in this family. Maggie appears to just be a miserable old bitch. She keeps a strict schedule so following up on her shouldn’t be too hard. We’re still probing into her husband, Danitelli’s affairs and business dealings. He’s a slippery one. Luisa is last on our list after her.”
A low growl worked up Riel’s throat. He’d been dying to get his hands on the person that had tied Sam to the bed to burn.
“I’ll be there soon.” He didn’t want to leave Sam alone, so he was about to call on Troy when she strolled up to him.
“Where are you going?” she asked and toweled her body dry.
His eyes drank in every single sexy curve of her beautiful body. He pulled her on his lap and kissed her. “I need to see Kane. I’ll have Troy come watch you.”
She shook her head and kissed him on the nose. “Nope.”
“What do you mean ‘nope’?”
She curled her arms around his neck, kissed the shell of his ear, and ran a tongue over the rim. “I mean, nope. I’m going to visit Sophia and bring the papers from my mom’s medical stay. She wanted to see if she could figure out why I can’t shift, and I want to know more about the drug they gave her.” Her eyes filled with sorrow. “I need to know for my own piece of mind. You understand, right?”